MODELING AND SIMULATION OF DROPLET DYNAMICS WITH A LAGRANGIAN VOLUME OF FLUID METHOD

We present a modified Lagrangian volume of fluid method for the simulation of multiphase flows. Particles with an intermediate volume of fluid explicitly resolve the interface in this updated formulation. This differs from previous implementations that do not include interfacial particles. Explicit resolution of the interface allows for surface tension to be calculated exclusively on particles belonging to the interface, similar to a front tracking method. Unlike front tracking methods, this updated Lagrangian volume of fluid uses the finite particle method to sample all particles nearby the interface, and therefore connectivity of particles is not required. Preliminary testing of geometric accuracy is presented, and for the arrangements considered the error in curvature can be as small as 0.5% and as large as 10%. The method is additionally shown to appropriately simulate oscillating droplets, but it fails to rigorously simulate a droplet in shear flow near the critical Capillary number due to the lack of particle reseeding in the current implementation.